Yume no Monogatari
by The Daydreamer092
Summary: She was just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life with her ordinary friends and family... or so she thought. She never knew that the fateful encounter with a certain someone would change her life forever.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: The Rendezvous **_

"I am Minerva the oracle of the Kingdom of Celesta. Tonight the celestial bodies align together to unravel a prophecy that entwines the destiny of certain souls that will revolutionize the fate of the world. So goes the prophecy…" enunciated a woman clad in mauve with golden-yellow patterned ceremonial dress, which allied to magic and all that is celestial. Although her physique showed her to be in her early 20's, her shrewdness was that of an aged; the place had the atmosphere of the supernatural… magic circles, celestial signs, mysterious ambiance and everything else.

"Kristine, are you paying attention to what I'm saying? Kristine? Kristine?"

"Huh? The prophecy? What?" I looked to where the voice was originating. Uh-oh looks like I'm in big trouble. I jumped up from my seat immediately; "I'm so sorry, Meoh sensei" I smiled sheepishly. I wonder how I'm gonna get out of this trouble. This is the fifth time I'm doing this in a week. But this wasn't how I used to be before. I was a very attentive and brilliant student, not that I'm not anymore, just that I keep daydreaming all the time in class nowadays.

"Here we go again" said Saitomi in nonchalance, running her hand through her purple hair, looking at me with her beautiful but emotionless navy blue eyes, which actually made my heart jump. It wasn't her usual self; she's never been cold or emotionless. It looks like she's fed up with me getting into trouble.

"You're daydreaming again!" Miss Meoh reprimanded, giving me a slightly pointed stare with her pale green eyes. She was in her late 20's, tall, fair, slim and very pretty. Her long auburn hair rolled into a chignon. She had a great personality that left an everlasting impression, kind, gentle, understanding but also strict when necessary.

"This is unacceptable. I can't have my students to day dream in my class. If you find my classes boring then stay out of my class. Now! Translate this sentence in English if you are serious in attending my class," she said in her angry and injured tone. She couldn't stand the fact that her bright and much loved student day dreaming in class. English is one of my favorite subjects; literature, poetry, short stories, plays; they just seem to enthrall me. These days I've been daydreaming a lot, not because I want to. It just happens for reason which I can't understand either.

"Erm, yes Mam." Damn! I wasn't paying any attention. I wonder which sentence she wants me to translate anyway? Things can't get any worse than this and most of all this is embarrassing. I'm usually the quiet kid in class; I hate getting myself under the spotlight; but then again this is high school anything can happen.

"Line 20, page number 50," whispered Saitomi. She's one of my best friends, Saitomi Sakurano. She's smart, energetic though a bookworm, can be a bit naïve, cold and indifferent at times but indeed a very sweet person whom I really love, oh yeah she's a bit of a worry wart especially when it comes to matters relating to me. We're second year high school students of the Matsumoto High School.

I whispered a word of thanks and started translating the sentence. Hey! What do you know, this sentence kinda describes the current situation; although I shouldn't be saying it when I'm in this much trouble. "When we visited the volcano, it was in a state of eruption."

"Kristine, just because you're a bright student doesn't mean that you shouldn't be paying attention in class. I won't tolerate this anymore. The next time you repeat this I'm taking you to the principal's office." The moment I heard that one word, I practically fainted. I could almost feel my stomach drop down to my feet.

I can understand how much she didn't want that to happen and of course she was upset because she knows that I'm a person who takes school pretty seriously. Lucky for me the bell rang before I annoyed her even more. This time for certain she knew that I was never gonna daydream in any class again. The class monitor commanded "Stand, Bow." We wished her and she left.

"There! You've done it again" Saitomi sniffed. "What is it that you daydream? Well anyway you better not do that again or you'll be in trouble, big time." She was really worried about me; even though her voice didn't convey it I could tell. This time she was a bit annoyed too; guess she was getting fed up of worrying about me.

"Tell me something I don't know. Hey! It's not like I'm doing this on purpose or anything", I groaned. "Let's go home", she said with a slender smile. "Right", I replied, feeling a bit relieved that the day had finally come to an end. We both walked home, enjoying the panorama. We didn't talk much today like we usually did, we were not in a mood to talk. But hey, at least we enjoy each other's company. We reached my house and so we parted.

"I'm back," I hollered. Oh! Mom's not back yet, she must be at some important meeting; she's an engineer working for a big company. It seems that her opinions and decisions are very important. Well that's Alexandra Adelaide Montgomery for you; intelligent, diligent, bold and a very gorgeous person. I look like her, or so people say. Well I don't see much resemblance. Me! Well I'm not that interested in making myself look all that beautiful, just be casual that's all.

Hmm… my younger brother is not back from school either. Oh yeah…. he said he was gonna stay back at school till 5:00. It seems that he's got basketball practice. Him? Well he's pretty bubbly, a great basketball player like my dad, loves to get under my nerve, always waiting for a chance to annoy me but hey he doesn't mean any harm, just trying to grab all my attention. We both are pretty close. He's 3 years younger to me, very mischievous and so am I. Well that's Chris Deon Montgomery.

I know, I know… All my family members have names like that of a character out of a fantasy novel or something. Well it seems that my grandparents are so fond of these kind of names, mine is no exception either, Kristine Liya Montgomery.

I started off with my daily routine, gathering materials for my novel on the net. Writing is one of my hobbies and the favorite; it's more like my stress reliever. Huh? What's this, a new application? It was a funny looking chat room. Hundreds of people were hectically chatting with one another, discussing about animes, mangas etc; well there was a bit of politics and public matter too. I didn't bother about it; I was busy searching for some material. But suddenly something caught my attention, someone was harassing a girl, simply for the reason she hails from Vietnam, racist jerk. How dare he? Everyone has equal rights to use this website, no discrimination of any sort. I was so irritated; I entered the chat-room and punched in "Racist fool! Leave her alone, what right do u have to harass her, nobody here tolerates a racist and don't ever show up again." The guy got petrified and left immediately and the girl thanked me. With that I was about to leave, just then something else came up.

"Hi there", chirped someone. Trying to figure out who it was, I looked for the username. It read Takeo. Feeling a little amazed I replied "Oh…. hi". "Guess you beat me to it. He's been doing that for a long time now and I was just about to beat some sense into him. N'ways, way to go" he said. He seemed to be a friendly guy, but I didn't let my guard down. I have very little faith in people whom I meet online. With that we started chatting.

"Nice to meet you Liya, I'm Takeo by the way." I figured he read my username and it didn't bother me much to correct him. Well I thought I shouldn't be rude, so in order to carry on the conversation I asked; "So how was your day today?"

"I guess my day was fine, as usual. How was yours", was his reply. "Well same here" I didn't want to tell a total stranger all that had happened that day. The conversation continued with us chatting about our neighborhood and school and all the other everyday activity. After all that chatting he seemed to be a pretty decent guy with a striking personality. It was fun chatting with him.

"You seem to know exactly how I feel about things just by talking to me, that's pretty cool" he commented. I was astounded by his comment; I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks. Yeah I was blushing indeed. "Well I have my way of knowing how people feel and what kind of person they are when they talk to me. I can know even if we're not speaking to each other in person. Well it's not always the same case, sometimes I go wrong", I replied with a tinge of apprehension.

"Wow, that's great, well I guess you'd make a great psychologist one day." Now I was really turning bright red. Then he went on to say "Hmm, well it's just that at school everyone treats me like a big wheel or something just because I'm so good at sports and all."

"So I see you're the most popular guy in school huh? Shouldn't you be happy about it? Guess you're not; you like to stay clear of the spotlight, don't you? Like me. My advice, just ignore them. After a while they'll get fed up."

He was pretty amazed at what I said. We talked for a little while longer and then it was time for me to leave.

"Oh I've got to go. See you around." It was time for me to start doing my work, if my mom found out that I was slacking off, I'm dead meat. So I logged off.

"I'm back" chirped my mom. "Oh! Welcome back mom" I answered almost falling out of the chair. "What are you doing on the computer", she asked artlessly. "Well I was just surfing the net and chatting with a friend", I replied waiting for another dose of trouble. "Alright, it's past 5:30. So go start your work already," she said tenderly. Fortunately she was in a good mood, thus I was saved from the other dosage.

"Ok I'm going", I replied gleefully. "Where's your brother, is he not back yet?" inquired my mother with a vexed look on her face. "No. He said he was staying back at school for basketball practice" I answered wondering if he was about to get into trouble, it's already passed the time he got back home.

"Hey, I'm back" sang Chris. "Where were you", my mom and I shot at him. "You're late. Next time you do that you're in big trouble," mom huffed angrily, slightly glaring at Chris.

I was standing at the middle of the stairs wondering what he was going to do next. Well I already knew that he wasn't in trouble this time, but his reactions could amend that anytime.

He just climbed up the stairs making his way to his room. For one moment there I thought he wasn't gonna try anything stupid, but the next thing I knew he kind of pulled me when he passed me.

I was wobbling on the stairs about to fall, but in the knick of time I caught the railings with my left hand and Chris caught me by the right. I saw the dumb expression on his face; well he didn't mean to make me fall off the stairs.

"Why you little…"I snarled, when, "Don't start or I will" my mom sharply interrupted. Like I said he's just waiting for a chance to get under my nerve, well it's our daily routine after school, 15 minutes of skirmishing and bickering. To be honest we both kind of enjoy it.

"What's you're problem Chris?" I whined. "Why do you always have to start a fight? Look I know that you're doing this to gain my attention. But you know we won't be together for too long, after 2 years I'll be leaving for college then what are you gonna do."

I noticed that the smirk on his face has faded. He was glaring at me now. "Alright I'm sorry. And stop reminding me about your going off to college. I'll think about it later". I knew that he got hurt, me going off to college is the last thing he needed to hear now. Beneath all this fighting and bickering we both love each other so much, that being away from each other was like air devoid of oxygen. By this time we were both very tired so we decided to call it a day.

I went to my room and started doing my home work. Oh boy! Did I ever have a lot of work than usual? After going through all of today's commotion I decided to retire for the night.

A few minutes later I was standing beneath a mystical tree which bore a lot of gemstones. Its leaves were a vibrant green with pale cerulean tips. The gems were of different colors each. It had a very mystic feeling to it. "Where am I? What am I doing here?" This tree, it's so beautiful. "Is this even for real?"

"Hey sis, wake up you're late for school. Hey sis! Liya-nee~chan! Wake up!" Chris called.

"Huh? What?" I opened my eyes looking straight at my alarm clock. "Oh nooo…. I'm late…" Was that a dream, but it felt so real? "Why didn't you wake me up a little earlier, you midget?" I dressed up hurriedly, gulped down my breakfast and tore up the streets towards my school. I was dodging a lot of obstacles on the way, Miss Mei Li's cat, Mr. Ken's cart, stack of cans and boxes, crates and cartons. Finally I reached school, I had 3 more minutes to race up that stairs and get to my class before Miss Meoh does. Man! I didn't want to get into trouble first thing in the morning.

I opened the door and darted across the room to my desk and slid into my chair, panting. "Close shave" Saitomi snickered. "Really close" I said, smiling sheepishly.

"Good morning class" chirped Meoh sensei as she swept across the classroom. I almost jumped out of my chair. She looked my way and gave me a silky smile. Well I guess she meant that she forgave me for yesterday. "Alright, class we're going to have a surprise test today. Dylan, please give out these papers".

Surprise test? Man that really was a surprise or even a shock, what am I gonna do. I've been daydreaming in all her classes now I don't know anything or what she's teaching. Right when I was thinking that today won't be like yesterday. Somebody please get me out of here. Saitomi and I gazed each other frantically.

Suddenly there was sheer silence which was kind of peculiar and then I heard "Excuse me, Meoh sensei. The principal wants to see Montgomery-san and Sakurano-san."

I looked over to the door way to find my savior, who came to rescue the damsel in distress like a prince on a white horse. Whoa, whoa, whoa, looks like the constant chain of distress is making me suffer from a serious case of concussion. Ha-ha… well sorry about that.

Well he did come to my rescue, though I wouldn't say that I'm a "damsel" in distress, but he is more like a prince. He is the most popular guy in our school. I could see all the girls in my class swooning over him now and even the boys admired him.

"Liya and Saitomi may leave" Meoh sensei said feeling irritated. I noticed that she was getting aggravated with her class acting so pathetically. So we left quickly.

"Wonder what the principal wants with us" Saitomi muttered. We darted into the principal's office. He was sitting in his chair, waiting for us to enter. He was a very friendly and kind person, who always smiled at everyone. But once you anger him then you'll never hear the end of it.

"I have got some news for the both of you…" he said warily, searching for a reaction from our face and paused for a short while. "You've got the admission to the prestigious school in Yokohama."

I was flabbergasted by that news. Saitomi and I were rooted to the spot, thunderstruck. Recovering from it a few seconds later; "Awesome" Saitomi squealed in a low voice. "Well it's about time" I said jubilantly.

"You two can go join by next week. By then settle things here." The principal advised. He was indeed very happy for us.

"Yes, of course" Saitomi and I echoed. This calls for celebration.

We hurried back to class filled with excitement and joy. The class was already over by the time we got back, Meoh sensei was coming out of the class. I dashed towards her to tell her the news. She was delighted by the news and wished us luck. Well today was the complete opposite of yesterday, what I was really happy about was that I didn't get into much trouble today. I sauntered into the classroom, Saitomi already told our close friends about it.

"We're celebrating today, after school" demanded Kazumi contentedly. The rest of the gang, Sakura, Hideki, Kazune, Shiro and Toya approved the opinion. I could trace the slight aura of gloom among the group though. Well it is heartbreaking indeed to part after being so close to each other. The eight of us have been the best of friends since elementary school. I didn't want to elevate the grief so as usual I tired to pull up some jokes to get rid of the gloom.

The rest of the classes went on as usual and before I knew it the day had come to an end. Nothing else other than the teacher announcing our transfer to Yokohama and the witty commotion during the lunch break had happened. Witty commotion? Well that was just Shiro and Toya trying to get under Kazune's nerves, which ended up in a witty food fight.

"Time for celebration; come on let's go" Kazumi hollered. So we all walked towards our favorite café and ordered some cheese cakes and ice creams. It was our last day together, since I and Saitomi were leaving tomorrow morning. We enjoyed it to the best. Sakura and Kazumi wanted to get something for us as a gift, so they dragged us into a mystique antique shop and bought us both a pendant each. The shop was filled with all sorts of mysterious ornaments and antiques. Sakura and Kazumi knew of my predilection for things like these.

The moment I touched the pendant, a bright blue light shone and I was sucked into another world. "What the heck is going on? Where am I?" I frantically enquired. Suddenly I felt a cold-sweat run down my spine and I stood rooted to the spot, staring at the commotion that was happening before me. Is it really what I think it is? Yes!... It is. It was a battlefield and I was right in the middle of a dreadful war, like in the 18th century.

I could see blood splattered, injured soldiers and severed limbs everywhere. It was a very horrible sight, I wanted to puke but I couldn't. I was scared to death. What was happening? Is this even for real? One moment I was in the antique shop and the next I'm here. What's going on? Right then I felt something go right through me; somebody stabbed me with a sword from behind. No!... This can't be happening to me. Wait…. I don't feel any pain, what?... I'm not even bleeding. It was as if I was a ghost in that world. Everything seems to pass right through. The stab was not meant for me but for a soldier, he fell right before me, sputtering blood. I screamed out loud, I couldn't hold it anymore, I was crying.

"Sho…. No!" cried a woman. I turned to look at her. A young man; a soldier…. no an aristocrat, he was slain. There was something he was protecting, a jewel. Even as he was dying, he was unwilling to give it up, he clasped it so tightly. I walked towards the couple tentatively, it was heartbreaking, and I couldn't bear to see the tears the woman cried. But before he breathed his last, he managed to tell her something which seemed very important.

"Rin…, protect this stone… no matter what….; in no way should it end up in the enemy's hands. Take the stone back to the palace and tell Lord Nicholas that I've fulfilled my obligation….. and that I left without any regrets or remorse". His words struck through me like thunder. They were so powerful that it immobilized me. Suddenly….. I realized that the pendant I was wearing was a part of the stone she was holding.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: A Dream or **__**Veracity **_

"Good morning Kris" greeted Miss Mei Li. She's the owner of the flower shop around the corner of the street. She sold the most exquisite flowers in the whole avenue. She is well-informed about flowers too; there was nothing she didn't know about them. Therefore she had a lot of customers which made her a well known florist.

"Morning Miss Mei Li. How are you today?" I responded giving her a charming smile. "Oh I'm just doing great. How about you? I heard that you and Saitomi are getting transferred to Yokohama" she inquired. "Yes that's right." Well what do you know; news does travel faster than a horse. She requested that we come visit them regularly and gifted me a bouquet of peach colored roses.

I started walking towards the park, inhaling the sweet scent of roses. Since I was leaving that morning, I felt that I should walk around the neighborhood. The park was almost empty, well since it was early morning not many people were around. It felt nice to take a walk in the park, breathing in the morning air. Oh, actually I was sniffing the roses; I have a great penchant for flowers.

I could hear some voice just a few yards away. It was coming from the basketball court. The boys in the neighborhood come to practice here every morning. Just then I heard "Oy Kris." I turned to look at the owner of the voice; well of course it was Toya, the basketball legend of the city. You should see the way the girls swoon over him; he's so good looking even when he plays, a "bishonen" as otakus would say. I used to have a crush on him during middle school, not 'cause of his looks but his talent, he's a real genius in basketball.

"Morning, Kris. So what are you up to this early in the morning" he inquired, looking very contented to see me. "Oh I was just simply taking a walk around the neighborhood" I replied with a soft smile. "Hm…. You don't have to leave if you don't want to you know" he teased. "Oh please, give me a break" I whined. "Alright, alright" Toya chuckled putting up his hands in defeat.

"So… you wanna talk about it" he asked apprehensively. I gazed into his concern filled hazel eyes woefully. I knew that he was not talking about me leaving but about yesterday's incident at the antique shop. I couldn't get over it at all, that's why I tried to keep my mind busy. Even though I lied to them yesterday, so as to not get them worried, I knew that Toya didn't believe it.

I sighed and sat down on the nearby bench. Toya took a seat beside me and waited patiently for me to explain it to him. After a moment of hesitance I decided to tell him. At least it would take the burden off my chest and Toya is my best friend, so I could talk to him about anything. But I asked him not to tell the others about it, I didn't want them to get worried. I explained everything, exactly the way I saw it, describing even the smallest matter so vividly.

Toya was dumbfounded; he looked at me understandingly. He knew how I felt. I wasn't a type of girl who daydreams like that and it just simply can't be a fantasy. "I knew I felt something weird about the pendant. I felt a strange aura around it" he said recalling the incident. "Anyways, let it be for now. I know it's weird but doesn't seem that important now, so don't let it spoil the mood today. Let me now if anything else happens; then we'll break it to the others and deal with it in the proper way" he said soothingly to reassure me.

I felt like I could breathe freely again; it was indeed a good idea to let him know. I had to tell him about my weird dreams as well; taking all the facts into consideration he concluded that they are all connected. But like he said, we let it be as it is for now. "Alright, I better get going now. It's time for school for you and I need to get to the station before its late" I informed giving him the bouquet of roses. So we both went our way.

Back at home, I got everything ready and waited for the decided time. Yesterday when I told mom about the news she seemed very excited about it, although she was sad about me leaving. Chris was rather shocked; he never even imagined that I would leave so soon. "Mom, I will be just fine" I guaranteed her. "Yeah, sure; you will be" my brother sneered, his arms crossed across his chest. I chuckled.

"Come on bro; cheer up will ya" I drawled pulling him into a tight embrace. "I will call you whenever possible alright. So please stop worrying, we will be in touch. It's not like we're never gonna see each other again. Besides look on the bright side, you've got the whole house to yourself now" I said with a twinge, releasing him from my hold. I brushed away the golden locks that were concealing his emerald green eyes.

I grabbed my back pack and belongings from off the ground and walked out. As soon as I was out the gate I waved goodbye, without turning to look at them.

I walked towards the street to catch a cab to get to the train station. All the familiar places and faces; I was leaving all that behind.

When I reached the famous tofu shop, I heard a manly voice call out "Liya; why are you all packed up? Where are you going?" It was Mr. Roy the owner of the shop, he also taught martial arts along with his tofu business. He is a professional at both.

"Well I got an admission to an arts school in Yokohama. So I won't be around anymore" I answered gleefully.

"Oh, I see; congratulation and good luck too" he chirped suddenly remembering something. "Thanks I'm gonna need that" I replied. "Wait here a moment I've got something for you" he ordered tenderly and then went into his house and came back with a bracelet. "This is a lucky charm; I want you to have it" he presented, taking my hand gently and putting it on. "Wow; thanks; that's so sweet of you" I replied looking pleased at the cool bracelet. It was indeed very beautiful with all the intricate designs.

I met up with Saitomi at the train station. "Hey Li; all set to go?" she asked looking very thrilled. "I guess" I replied. "It's really tough leaving, isn't it" she inquired with a shade of gloom. "Yeah; well lets leave that aside it's already time for the train to arrive" I said warily trying to ward off the gloominess.

"The train to Yokohama will be arriving shortly. Please stand behind the yellow line for your own safety. Thank you" went the announcement. So we walked towards the platform. Now all the gloom has disappeared and we were feeling immensely ecstatic.

We were now traveling to Yokohama. "How long is it going to take to get there?" Saitomi inquired, looking out the window to enjoy the beautiful panorama that was gliding by, which I was doing as well.

"Don't know" I replied without looking away from the window, still enjoying the view.

"I hope we'll have a great time traveling" she anticipated. "Yeah; this is one of the few times I'm traveling long distances in a train, alone." Well my mom doesn't mind me traveling alone or going to far off places. But I like traveling in groups; it's more fun that way, especially with my brother.

"You're not alone" Saitomi snickered jubilantly. "Oh yeah; you consider yourself as an adult now, do you" I ridiculed, playfully. "I thought we both were" she teased in response. "Yeah right; we still have a long way to get there" I snuffled.

"Dad said that he will be there to pick us up" I informed. "That is if he's free. I hope he won't be too busy" I anticipated, 'cuz it's been a long time since I've last seen him. So I wanted to see him the first thing I got there.

*Hours later*

"We'll be reaching Yokohama Central Station in ten minutes; the passengers are requested to make sure they don't misplace their belongings. Thank you" informed the announcer.

"Great" I exclaimed. "So we've passed Tokyo already" she asked, thwarted. "I hope we could go shopping or sight seeing there, sometimes" she said enthusiastically.

"Sure we will" I assured her. She always loved to go shopping in Tokyo. "Look dad's here" I called out. My heart was pounding with sheer delight. I couldn't wait to see him again. "Sweet" she remarked, realizing how ecstatic I was. Well she was enjoying it too.

"We have reached Yokohama Central Station. Thank you" went the announcement. As soon as the door opened I shot out, threw my stuff on the ground and flew onto him. "Hey dad" I chirped, hugging him so tightly. He was holding me gently but firmly, he had missed me a lot too.

"Hey, Mr. Nicholas" called Saitomi. "Hey you two" greeted my dad. He was a tall man, 5'10; very good looking, hair as brown as chestnut and eyes a bright shade of garnet.

"I'm so glad to see you two again. Look at you; I'm away for 2 years and you grow up too fast" he commented. "The usual dialogue for all parents when they see their children after being apart for a long time" I remarked.

"Well, I must say you both have grown into fine young ladies or are you still that tomboy I know of Li" he teased. "Hey!" I groaned. "What do you think Saitomi, is she still the same old Li". "Yup she hasn't changed much" Saitomi informed. "Cut it out, you two" I moaned. They both started laughing.

"So how are you doing Saitomi" he inquired. "Oh I'm just doing fine. Thank you" she replied smiling pleasantly at him. We walked to his car and loaded our bags and things inside and drove off to his house. "Did you guys have a nice time traveling" he asked looking at us through the mirror. "Yeah a great time indeed" we responded.

"I can't believe you're here." He shot a funny look at me with a smirk on his face. Yeah, I knew what he meant; my mother. She was really sad when dad had to leave to come here for work and now I'm here.

We drove into a beautiful abode. It had a spectacular garden with numerous species of flora and fauna; it looked splendid like a small version of a mansion. "Awesome, this place looks great" I commented. "Definitely" Saitomi approved.

"Well, being a great and famous archeologist does really pay off" I remarked.

"Alright, let's get you something to eat" he said, walking into the kitchen. It was a well furnished house in both European and Japanese style.

"Here's your breakfast, hope you enjoy it" he chirped, setting down two dishes of scrumptious food. "I'm really sorry but I have to leave for work now" he said dismally. He wanted to stay back at home today since we arrived.

"Guess the country cannot function without its great archeologist working all the time huh" I commented with a tinge of misery but without letting the other two know about it. "Well, bye then and have a great day" I said shooting a velvety smile at him.

"Have a good day" Saitomi chorused. "Alright I'm leaving then".

Then we started planning on what to do that day while finishing our breakfast. "So what do you want to do the whole day" I inquired taking a sip out of my orange juice. "I don't know; maybe get some rest and do something really exciting later" she replied.

"Right; I can't just spend the whole day doing nothing" I concurred. "Lively as always" she remarked with a smirk. "Oh really; It doesn't hurt being a little agile and adventurous now, does it" I inquired eyeing her innocently.

"Of course not. But you're on a totally different level" she replied smiling mischievously. "Very funny" I responded in a mock hurt manner.

After the long hours sightseeing and shopping we got back home and decided to make dinner. Just the moment after we finished preparing dinner dad came back from work. "Hey, I'm back" he called out from the lobby. "Welcome back" both Saitomi and I chorused. He walked towards his room, depositing all his documents and materials of some ancient artifacts from the work-site onto his table. They seemed to be very fascinating. Well things like those always seem to catch my attention.

After changing into his casual wear he walked into the kitchen to see what we were up to. "Mmmmmm…. That smells so… good" he said inhaling the wafting aroma of food.

"Well ain't somebody glad that his daughter is home to do the cooking from now on" I teased. He smiled and sat down at the table. After setting all the dishes on the table, both Saitomi and I sat down too.

"So did you have a nice day" I inquired, taking a sip out of my glass of water. "Yeah, I did. I'm getting close to finding the artifact that we've been searching for years now. It's really great" he said smiling away with joy.

"Well I'm glad" I exclaimed. "What's it about"?

"A lost regalia of an ancient mystical empire, a staff; some people who tried to usurp the throne stole it. During the pursuit the stone which was on it was lost and only the platinum rod remains; so it's up to us to find it now" explained my dad.

"Phew" I whistled. "Wow! Staff made out of pure platinum? Lost regalia? An ancient mystical empire? Unbelievable! Awesome! Count me in for the expedition" I grinned. Saitomi giggled.

It was already late for anymore conversations, so we finished our dinner and retired for the night. On my way to the room I saw something in my dad's study that caught my attention, a painting of the stone he was talking about. I walked in to get a better view, the moment I laid eyes on it I froze. Bloody hell! It's the same one that I saw in the vision at the antique store. Somebody please tell me that I'm hallucinating or just having a nightmare. I didn't stand there any longer; the moment I thawed I hurried back to my room upstairs.

But the moment I reached my bedroom door a voice called out from behind, "Kris you okay? What's wrong"? I gasped with fear but realizing that it was Saitomi I turned around. "You look like you've seen a ghost. You okay?" she enquired anxiously. "Yeah I'm fine. It's…. just that I….. ", sighing heavily I looked away to avoid her anxious gaze "I was just thinking about some stuff" I replied.

"About what"? Saitomi inquired again. I felt a tingle on my neck; I knew that Saitomi was staring pointedly at me. "You know I think I saw Mr. Roy in the city today" I replied, raking my copper colored hair with my fingers. But I wasn't lying, I really did see him. "Really? Nah, I think you're just imagining things" she said soothingly.

"Okay, I know what you're thinking. You think I'm going hysterical; first those weird dreams and now Mr. Roy" I complained. "Okay, 'now' you're being hysterical" she laughed. She saw the irritated look on my face and paused. "I saw those dreams again but I never get to see the whole thing" I moaned.

"That's why you're so irritated? Oh come on."

"If only I got to see the whole thing, then I could figure out at least something and then be at peace" I yelled. Saitomi was stunned; she didn't think that I would be this frustrated about it and this is the first time she's seeing me this angry. Well she wasn't frightened by it because she knew that I didn't mean to yell at her and about my temper tantrums, even though she'd never witnessed it before. Mind you, '**my temper tantrums'** are not such a good thing. No one has ever survived it…. it's like a volcano, it rarely comes but once it's here then it's the end of the world.

"Li! It's alright. I'm sure it's just you're zany imagination running wild" Saitomi snickered trying to cheer me up. "Zany?" I chuckled. "You have got to be kidding me. Oh well I guess you're right. It's pointless to get all worked up about this. Alright, see you in the morning then. Good night! " I smiled. "Yeah, good night" Saitomi responded.

I closed the door behind me and collapsed onto the bed. Even though I calmed down I couldn't sleep, so I grabbed my laptop and went online to check my e-mails. Suddenly a window pops open and someone greets me.

Takeo: Hi again.

Me: Oh hey there. Didn't think I'll bump into you again. So how's it going?

Takeo: well I'm fine, just the usual. Oh by the way, you're advice seem to have some effect. So thanks again.

Me: I see that's nice. Hmm… so where are you from?

Takeo: well I'm from Yokohama

Me: you're kidding. I just got to Yokohama today. I transferred here from Matsumoto.

Takeo: wow! That's great. So I guess we'll see each other someday, since we're in the same neighborhood. Oh got to go now, catch ya later.

Me: yeah that will be great. Bye now.

So went the conversation. Well at least it helped me to relax a bit more. I wasn't bothered by those weird things again. I was kind of excited about making a new friend and that we're in the same neighborhood now. It eased me up, so I went to sleep thinking about the new adventures to be experienced and new bonds to be made. Hoping that at least this time I would have dreams about these and not all that fantasy stuff or according to Saitomi my 'zany' imagination running wild.

*The pendant twinkles*


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: The Inevitable**_

It was a beautiful morning to start the first day of the week. The city streets were busy and crowded with people and vehicles moving about to reach their destinations be it office, school or wherever. Shops and offices opening up to commence another day's work, but something seemed to attract the attention of the passers by.

"Saitomi, does that shop look familiar to you?" I asked smiling sarcastically. "Yeah I think it does. Why do you ask?" she replied amused. "Well of course it does 'cuz this is the third time we're passing it" I shouted almost blowing Saitomi off her feet. Yup it was the commotion that I and Saitomi made that attracted the attention of the people around. We were walking around the unfamiliar city trying to find our new school.

"Do you even have the slightest clue of where we are right now? We've been walking for 10 minutes now; if we don't hurry up we'll be late for school" I sighed. How did we end up like this? Oh yeah, dad had to leave early because of some emergency at the dig (excavation site). So we had to find the way to the school ourselves, with the problem that we had only a rough map which we found on the internet. Where's a GPS when you need one.

"Ah –Yes, we're in Yokohama" she replied casually. I shook my head and sighed at that lame joke. I know she was trying her best to find the way so I didn't scold her. "Now give me the map, I'm leading the way now" I said giving her a faint smile. I couldn't help but to laugh at her expression; but I didn't, I tried hard to suppress it.

"Here, you could've done this ten minutes ago" she said nonchalantly. I was flabbergasted. "You have _got_ to be kidding me" I smiled, astonished. "All this while you didn't know where you were taking us. Great! Now we've got only 15 minutes to get to the school." I shook my head with amazement and took the map to find the way towards the school.

After a few minutes of roaming we finally reached the school. "Well this is it, Seika High. Looks like we made it in time" I sighed in relief. "Look on the bright side, we at-least got to familiarize the city" Saitomi said, smiling smugly. "I give up!" I sighed and turned to walk but bumped into someone. "Ouch!" I exclaimed, rubbing my nose.

I looked up to see the figure hovering over me and tried to apologize. But instead… "I... I…" God! Could I have been more embarrassing than that? I just sat there in that position staring at his handsome face and staggered. Wow! Talk about first impressions and Man! He really looked so debonair, fair haired, emerald eyes, like a prince.

"You should watch where you're going, you could hurt someone" he said.

Or not. I could hurt someone? Ok that's definitely not prince-like, how rude, I'm the one whose hurt now. I got up, dusted myself and said "Hey, look, I'm sorry. You don't have to be so grouchy about it, it was an accident." Saitomi took hold of my hand 'cuz she knew I was starting to get angry about his comment, so I tried to calm myself.

The guy didn't even bother to reply and walked away, that made me even madder but I somehow controlled myself. "What a jerk! Ok, the fault was mine. I should have watched where I was going but I apologized for it, didn't I? He didn't have to get so petulant about it" I frowned.

"Hey leave it, don't let it ruin your day, it's our first day after all" comforted Saitomi. "But you know, it was so unlike you to actually gawk at a guy, you're usually so oblivious about them. I grimaced at her. "It's true; you go about with your business that you end up ignoring them, even though it's unintentional. You have no idea on how many boys were actually crushing on you."

"You've got to be kidding. There's no way that could be true and even if it is, it doesn't matter. And yes I know how idiotic I was just now, to have actually gaped at that guy, which is exactly why I'm so mad right now" I replied with a tinge of anger. "Anyways let's just get to the class, it should be starting soon."

Class 2-2

"Class, I would like to introduce two transfer students who will be joining us from now on. Kristine Liya Montgomery and Saitomi Sakurano" announced the class teacher, Miss Hinata. "You two can occupy those empty desks over there" she said pointing at the two desks over at the right side of the room near the window.

Saitomi and I smiled and walked towards our seats, I was glad that I got seated at one side of the classroom rather than at the middle. I really hate to be at the centre of all the attention. As I reached mine I tried to see who my neighbor was, to whom I'll be sitting next to for the next one year. The moment our eyes met I felt a thunderbolt go right through me. You again! Oh no, this can't be happening, after that rendezvous at the school gate I hoped to never see this guy again. Who would have thought that we would be in the same class sitting right next to each other. All my hopes and dreams of a wonderful year in a new school are now flushed down the drain.

_Her again! Oh great, it can't get any worse than this. After what happened before I'm sure this year's going to be pretty interesting. Wait, could she be the girl I met online, she said she transferred to a school in this city. Nah! Maybe not, there's only a sleek chance that it could be her._

He gave me an irritated look and turned away. I somehow managed to control all my feelings of dismay, anger and frustration and sat down at my seat. I was glad to know that Saitomi's seat was right behind me.

"Something wrong Takumi?" asked a friend of his. "No, everything's fine" he replied.

"Well then Ayumi Fujioka and Meoh Okada can help Kristine and Saitomi in class" instructed the teacher. The two girls in front of me stood up, "Yes, Miss Hinata." The one directly in front of me was Ayumi and the one on the right was Meoh, we introduced ourselves to each other. And that guy beside me was Takumi Nakajima and his friend beside him, Shori Tatsuya, has jet black hair and crimson eyes; sounds scary but he looks very friendly.

So, before I knew it the first few classes finished and it was recess time. "So where are you guys from actually?" enquired Ayumi.

"Oh, we're from Matsumoto" replied Saitomi. "Wow that's a lot far from here. So do your parents work here?" followed Meoh.

"Yeah my dad's an archeologist, he's currently busy with some work here" I replied. "That's cool, so you guys must be friends right" continued Ayumi. "Yeah we're childhood friends" I informed, smiling.

"That's sweet. So now you guys will have to join in any of the clubs. What are you guys interested in" asked Ayumi. "Hmm… well I dunno, maybe the music club or the arts club or the archery club perhaps" I replied, pondering. "Oh is that so? That means you must be pretty good at arts. What kind of instruments do you play?" she enquired.

"Piano and the guitar and a little bit of the violin" I replied. "I'm still an amateur at those though."

"Amateur? Yeah right! You won't think so once she starts playing though." Saitomi smirked. I looked at her with astonishment. "You see, Liya's more of a perfectionist. She likes to improve herself in whatever she's doing, therefore she always ends up being so good like a professional at all those" she explained. I was so amused at what she said. Yeah, I agree I am a perfectionist, 'cuz I like to give it my all at whatever I do but what she said was a bit astounding to me.

"Uh_-_ O_-_kay!" I exclaimed with an amused expression which made Ayumi and Meoh giggle. "Hmm, well u guys better decide on a club while we take you guys on a tour around the school" Ayumi said, pulling us both outside the classroom.

We walked around the whole school, checking out the different clubs when finally, I decided to join the archery club and Meoh the book club. I was overwhelmed by all the sights; the whole school ground expanded about 5000 hectares, comprising of large sports fields, courts, pavilions, exotic gardens, a chapel and a café named Café D'Salon run by the students of the patisserie section, boarding for students, there's even a large forest and a lake on the northern side of the school. The school was founded by a lady named Sarah Mayfield, who belongs to a very wealthy family from Europe, wealthy in every sense. The current chairman, Mr. Richard Mayfield is her grand-nephew.

We came across an abandoned manor nearer to the chapel; it wasn't a part of the school ground. It was surrounded by trees and hedges and even a small cliff was separating the school grounds with the manor. It sort of intrigued me, so I decided to take a better look. I was about to climb to the top of the bell tower of the chapel when Ayumi and Meoh impeded me.

"The higher levels of the chapel are off limits and besides I think it's best if you don't meddle around with that manor. It's seems dangerous, no one's ever stepped foot in that place since it got abandoned. Not even the school authorities dare to approach it. They say that it's haunted with some spooky magic stuff and all, certain nights one could see some strange lights being emitted from there and then the wind starts blowing abnormally as if trying to suck something in" explained Ayumi.

I just stood there and gazed at Ayumi with astonishment after which I broke into sheer laughter. I couldn't help myself but after hearing all that I couldn't do anything but to laugh, no offence meant to Ayumi. "What are you talking about? Are you serious? It sounds like something from a fiction novel." I replied, trying very hard to control my laughter.

"Yeah I know; we thought the same at first too but there are some troublesome kids who experienced it first hand when they were meddling around there" informed Meoh. The expressions on both their faces made me somewhat believe them. "Alright, fine, let's leave it at this. I rather not get into trouble with the school authorities right after joining. Hmm it really is a bummer that we're not allowed to the higher levels of the chapel" I sighed.

I could literally feel all their anxiety and concern so I decided not to meddle around anymore. It was already time for the next class to begin so we walked back to class. I was re-running every word for word in the back of my mind, whatever Ayumi and Meoh said to me. Now I was really getting confused, should I believe it or not? It was starting to get annoying, cuz somehow my mind told me it was just trash but my heart kept telling me it was something. So I finally decided to put it behind me.

We were walking up the corridor, just as I reached the intersection of the two corridors, beyond which was our class, I almost bumped into someone again. Yes! Exactly, it was him again, Takumi Nakajima. "You again?" we both scoffed. I was glaring at him, the very sight of him made my blood boil. I didn't know why, usually I never let myself be this mad about anything or anyone. I guess today's incident was that annoying.

I stepped aside to clear his way without saying a word and fixed my gaze on the ground; I was blocking his way to the classroom. I knew if I looked at him now I would probably end up wringing him to death, I decided not to create anymore issues and leave him be. Both our friends were staring at us with astonishment. They were trying to make heads or tails of what was happening before them. Apparently only I, Saitomi and he knew of our incident of this morning.

_Huh? O-kay! I guess somebody really hasn't gotten over of what happened in the morning. Fine, I guess I was really rude to her this morning; I don't know why but every time I see her I feel all the pressure building in my chest. It's as if I'm experiencing the pain of loosing something very precious and completely helpless to fix it. And as if by instinct I behave so rudely to her. *sigh* I should make it up to her somehow or this is going to end pretty badly. _"I…." _What's going on, why is she stepping aside? It's like she's completely avoiding me. Never mind; now doesn't look like a good time for it. She's really trying hard to control her anger. _

He tried to say something but stopped, instead he just walked away, and his friends followed him. After they left we returned to class as well. I didn't know what was happening to me but somehow I can't control my temper or what it was that I was feeling, before him.

"Hey Takumi is everything alright between you two?" asked one of his friends Daisuke Takagi. He had pale purple hair, golden eyes and was fairly tall. *Sigh*, "not really; I was really rude to her this morning thinking she was one of the fan-girls" Takumi explained. "Wow, talk about first impressions, ha-ha-ha. Well, just explain things to her and apologize; that should solve it" reassured another of his friend, Jun Endou, pale green hair and brown eyes. "Yeah I guess" replied Takumi with a sigh.

"Women_-_, they're like glass. Handle with care or …" started Jun's preaching. "Yeah, yeah, whatever man"; "Oh come on, not again"; "The oracle has finally been awakened" replied his friends, abruptly cutting him off.

The rest of the periods were free because of the staff meeting. Amongst all the chattering of the rest of the classmates I was sketching away on my scrap book to pass time. Saitomi and Ayumi were busy deciding on which club we should join while Meoh was frolicking in her fantasy world with a book of fiction novel in her hands. I was gazing dreamily out the window resting my chin upon my hand while sketching whatever that came to my mind onto a scrap of paper without moving my gaze from the window. A sudden gush of breeze blew the piece of paper onto Takumi's desk.

_Hmm? What's this? Is it hers? Guess I better give it back to her quickly. Hmm, not bad, her drawing skills are ama….. Wait a sec! What the-! You have got to be kidding me. How does she…? "Hey! Wait! What are you guys doing?"_

Oh shoot, why did it have to fly over there of all places. He picked it up and looked around to find where it came from and saw me watching him. He shot me a funny look and was about to give it back to me when he caught a glimpse of what I drew. He looked at it more carefully and gaped at me with amazement which later turned into shock. Right then his friends jumped over, snatched it from him and looked at it intently. No wait, you guys aren't supposed to see that. Damn! At which ludicrous moment did I ever think of drawing that?

"Wow, Kristine, I didn't know you could draw this amazingly" exclaimed Jun. We all looked at each other with amusement. "Well that's because you don't and besides you haven't known her for that long either" teased Daisuke. "Oh yeah, that's right. Hmm so what is this supposed to be? Looks like it's from some fantasy novel" continued Jun.

"Wait a second! Isn't this that mysterious tree everyone's talking about, the one at the haunted manor near the chapel?" asked Shori with an inquisitive look. "Yeah that's what I thought too" echoed Takumi and Daisuke, passing each other apprehensive looks.

"What are you guys talking about? I don't know about any trees from that manor, infact I don't know much about the manor either. I just got here, remember? This is just something that keeps coming in my dreams for the past few weeks. I don't know what it is or what it's related to and from where I got this. It just comes into my dream all of a sudden. I've been trying to make heads or tails of it ever since and now I was just thinking about it and accidentally sketched it onto that paper, that's it" I said impulsively.

Uh-oh…. I wasn't supposed to say that out loud. I could see the mixed feelings on their faces, even Ayumi and Meoh were looking anxiously at me now. Saitomi just sat frozen without anything neither to say nor do. She never even thought that it would end up like this. I just sat there smiling sheepishly looking at all the curious and stunned faces.

"You actually… dreamed… about that place?" inquired Daisuke. "Um_-_ well, I wouldn't exactly call it a dream, rather a nightmare and besides I don't know if it's the same place" I informed. "So you know nothing about the manor at all?" verified Takumi. "No…. I don't" I assured with a tinge of awkwardness. "Hmm… interesting" added Shori. "Yeah it is, I guess I will have to pay a visit there sometime soon" I answered pensively earning an astounded look from everyone except Takumi. He looked really annoyed about it.

"Li… don't even think about it. I'm definitely not gonna allow you to do that. Do you have any idea what kind of trouble that'll cause" snapped Saitomi. "You know me too well for that Saitomi. I won't get into any trouble. I'm just clearing some things, that's all. Besides you know it's even more troublesome to leave me curious, right?" I smirked trying to comfort her. "You should listen to your friend. Stay as far away from it as possible" Takumi said contemptuously. I stared at him in utter disbelief.

Who is he to tell me what to do and not to do! At this point I felt like wringing him to death but I suppressed all my anger and simply sat there glaring at him. Just then the bell rang, marking the end of our school hours, as well as our conversation. I simply stood up, dispensed all my things into my bag and walked away. I could feel everyone staring as I did. Saitomi followed behind me after grabbing all her stuff and smiling apologetically to all of them before she caught up with me.


End file.
